Royal Saxon serves some of the best pizzas in Melbourne. The delicately thin crusts have the perfect balance between crispiness and chewiness and the expertly judged toppings are always impeccable. We love their classic margherita - think layers of mozzarella teamed with delightfully fresh basil and juicy ripe tomatoes. Encircled with a puffy crisp crust, this pizza is consistently superb.

As expected of any great Italian eatery, Royal Saxon is particularly good at producing quality pasta dishes. The parpadelle that we had was no exception. The parpadelle was expertly cooked and retained a slight residual bite. The other ingredients combined to create a wonderful complexity of flavour – the duck ragu was deliciously flavoursome and tender.

For the health conscious, the Saxon serves delicious salads. The ancient grain salad and the beetroot salad are our current favourites. The ancient grain salad is a crowd pleaser. An enlivening salad of chickpea, beans and ancient grains with roasted sweet potatoes, baby cos, pickled shallots and caprino and brought together with a beautiful extra virgin olive oil dressing. The beetroot salad on th other hand is medley of exciting textures and features tried and true flavour combination and will appeal to even the most carnivorous individuals.

A memorable dish which combines flawless texture with equally superlative flavours, the lamb leg was excellent. Lightly charred on the surface and pink in the middle, the tender pieces of lamb were delicious with the melt in your mouth eggplant caponata.

The chicken was tender and superbly cooked. Coated in an addictively sweet marsala jus which was nicely offset by the decadently savoury potatoes.

And nothing caps off a lazy Sunday lunch like decadent desserts and a cup of coffee.

Royal Saxon's hearty modern Italian menu and sharp, friendly service makes it a perfect Sunday lunch destination. And now with Spins and Spritz for the months ahead, there is even more reason to head down to the Royal Saxon and enjoy the warm weather with some crispy spit roasted pork and a drink or two.